Cuckfield Museum’s new ‘Horsepower’ exhibition looks back at a time when horses played an essential part in every area of life before mechanisation changed everything.  We show the effects of the coaching trade rapidly disappearing after the coming of the railway, except for wealthy sporting gentlemen re-enacting ‘the good old days’ in the late 19th century, and the gradual introduction of motor traffic.

Images from the museum’s collection illustrate Cuckfield’s long-ago quiet roads, horses hard at work for local tradesmen and how local farmers still used highly-prized animals well into the 20th century.

There’s also a glimpse into the old stables at the Talbot pub which, until renovation work started in 2014, contained a last link to Cuckfield’s horse-drawn era – although the popular ‘Hayloft’ venue still has a clue in the name!